Wilfrid Laurier’s Edmund Pries wins prestigious teaching award

TORONTO – Assistant Professor Edmund Pries of Wilfrid Laurier University has been named one of Ontario’s most outstanding university teachers by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA). Prof. Pries, who teaches in the Department of Global Studies, will receive a 2013-2014 OCUFA Teaching Award at an October 25, 2014 ceremony in Toronto.

“Prof. Pries is a leader in advancing community service and social entrepreneurship learning at Laurier and beyond,” said OCUFA President Kate Lawson. “He is an extraordinarily gifted and dedicated teacher, and we are honoured to present him with an OCUFA Teaching Award.”

The five other recipients of a 2013-2014 OCUFA Teaching Award are:

Marshall Beier, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, McMaster University

Tamara Kelly, Associate Lecturer in the Department of Biology, York University

Margaret Jane Kidnie, Professor in the Department of English, Western University

Donna Kotsopoulos, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Department of Mathematics, Wilfrid Laurier University

Karen Reid, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto

“We need universities to fuel the future, and you can’t have great universities without great professors,” said Lawson. “This year’s winners of the OCUFA Teaching Award embody the commitment, skill, and passion that create incredible learning opportunities for students across Ontario.”

Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 professors and academic librarians in 28 faculty associations across Ontario. It has been celebrating outstanding achievement in teaching and academic librarianship at Ontario universities since 1973. For more information, please visit the OCUFA website at http://www.ocufa.on.ca.